Speakers include Rabbi Shea Hecht, Chairman of the Board of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education; Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who was named one of the ten most influential rabbis in America; Mrs. Rishe Deitsch, senior editor of the N'shei Chabad Newsletter, the international voice of Chabad Lubavitch today; Jerry Cantrell, President, NJ Taxpayer's Association and Roland Straten, candidate for U.S. Congress in New Jersey's 8th District.

Featuring the music of the fast rising Jewish band Yaakov Chesed and popular group Reality Addiction, the rally is expected to spark a national movement for equal educational opportunity. Comedian Reuven Russell will present The Great Debate, exploring the issue of school choice in a most insightful and humorous manner.

The rally will be introducing proposed legislation based on the teachings of the late, great Milton Friedman, who first introduced the concept of school vouchers in 1955. He believed that the magic of free enterprise can be achieved in education by allowing parental choice. Dubbed the Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity (CRA for EEO), the legislation would fulfill that with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 omitted. While our nation's leaders saw fit to require equal opportunity in housing, employment, travel and entertainment, the right of children attending private and religious schools was overlooked.

The CRA for EEO would require the states to provide equitable educational funding for children in both public and non-public schools, while respecting the liberty of schools in hiring and provision of services. This legislation has the support of countless voters and a long list of prestigious organizations, including Americans for Tax Reform, Washington DC; Family Research Council, Washington, DC; Alliance for Worker Freedom, Washington, DC; Center for Equal Opportunity, Falls Church, VA; Torah Communications, Brooklyn, NY; National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education, Brooklyn, NY; N'shei Chabad Newsletter, Brooklyn NY; CatholicVote.org, Washington, DC; Catholic Voices, Cedar Grove NJ; New Jersey Family Policy Council, Trenton, NJ; Sephardic Voters League, Brooklyn, NY; SchoolChoiceVoter.org., Westfield, NJ.

Although some claim this legislation violates the 10th Amendment (states' rights), this rationale would also disqualify the 14th Amendment (non-discrimination) and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (equal opportunity). Civil rights, of all kinds, are at the foundation of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. This surely includes the right of parents to raise and nurture their children without government interference, especially seeing how much harm this has brought upon our society. Accordingly, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (June 2002) that school vouchers are constitutional and may be used at religious schools.

Those who fear this will force tax increases may be shocked to learn that many private and religious schools would gladly provide a sound education for half of what public schools are now spending. This federal legislation does not in any way dictate to the states how to manage education. If a state chooses to defund education entirely it would have no bearing on this legislation. The object of the Act is to complete what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 omitted. Just as the federal government does not tell the states how to regulate restaurants, sports stadiums and public transportation, yet requires equitable opportunity, so too here. It would still be up to each state to design its own system of funding education, provided all school children are granted equitable treatment, including those attending non-public schools. States would be free to design systems that have varying impact on property and other taxes.

Obviously, as overburdened taxpayers, we do not want to see any increase in taxes of any kind, nor need there be. There is surely enough funding of education already budgeted to serve the needs of all school children, without the need to raise taxes. As reported in the National Review, "The truth is that, between 1960 and 2000, after-inflation education spending more than tripled. Harvard's Caroline Hoxby has found that real, inflation-adjusted spending grew from $5,900 per pupil in 1982 to more than $9,200 in 2,000." There are less than 15 percent of children who do not attend public schools, while there is surely far more than 15 percent waste and inefficiency in the current system that has been run without competition for generations.

While the CRA for EEO makes no mention of the small percentage of home schoolers included in the above figure, they will have the option of creating schools that serve the needs of homeschoolers, provided they abide by similar standards required of other schools.

Regarding federal spending, the CRA for EEO would render most federal oversight unnecessary and obsolete - as it should be - saving taxpayers many billions of dollars.

The rally will conclude with an on-stage press conference, to which all the press is invited.

Discounted tickets are available at www.JewishTickets.com.

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